Building automation systems encompass a wide variety of systems that aid in the monitoring and control of various aspects of building operation. Building automation systems (which may also be referred to herein as “building control systems”) include security systems, fire safety systems, lighting systems, and heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (“HVAC”) systems. Lighting systems and HVAC systems are sometimes referred to as “environmental control systems” because these systems control the environmental conditions within the building. A single facility may include multiple building automation systems (e.g., a security system, a fire system and an environmental control system). Multiple building automation systems may be arranged separately from one another or as a single system with a plurality of subsystems that are controlled by a common control station or server. The common control station or server may be contained within the building or remote from the building, depending upon the implementation.
The elements of a building automation system may be widely dispersed throughout a facility or campus. For example, an HVAC system includes temperature sensors and ventilation damper controls as well as other elements that are located in virtually every area of a facility or campus. Similarly, a security system may have intrusion detection, motion sensors and alarm actuators dispersed throughout an entire building or campus. Likewise, fire safety systems include smoke alarms and pull stations dispersed throughout the facility or campus. The different areas of a building automation system may have different environmental settings based upon the use and personal likes of people in those areas, such as offices and conference rooms.
Building automation systems typically have one or more centralized control stations in which data from the system may be monitored, and in which various aspects of system operation may be controlled and/or monitored. The control station typically includes a computer or server having processing equipment, data storage equipment, and a user interface. To allow for monitoring and control of the dispersed control system elements, building automation systems often employ multi-level communication networks to communicate operational and/or alarm information between operating elements, such as sensors and actuators, and the centralized control station.
One example of a building automation system control station is the Apogee® Insight® Workstation, available from Siemens Industry, Inc., Building Technologies Division, of Buffalo Grove, Ill. (“Siemens”), which may be used with the Apogee® building automation system, also available from Siemens. In this system, several control stations connected via an Ethernet or another type of network may be distributed throughout one or more building locations, each having the ability to monitor and control system operation.
The typical building automation system (including those utilizing the Apogee® Insight® Workstation) has a plurality of field panels that are in communication with the central control station. While the central control station is generally used to make modifications and/or changes to one or more of the various components of the building automation system, a field panel may also be operative to allow certain modifications and/or changes to one or more parameters of the system. This typically includes changes to parameters such as temperature and lighting, and/or similar parameters.
The central control station and field panels are in communication with various field devices, otherwise known as “points.” Field devices are typically in communication with field panels of building automation systems and are operative to measure, monitor, and/or control various building automation system parameters. Example field devices include lights, thermostats, damper actuators, alarms, HVAC devices, sprinkler systems, speakers, door locks, and numerous other field devices as will be recognized by those of skill in the art. These field devices receive control signals from the central control station and/or field panels. Accordingly, building automation systems are able to control various aspects of building operation by controlling the field devices.
Adjusting the controls of a building and/or area in a building automation system based on users that are present in the building and/or area is desirable. There have been several attempts at determining this but each attempt suffers from a host of problems. For example, using WiFi signals to triangulate user positions relies on infrastructure that is expensive to maintain and is often not maintained by those commissioning the building automation system (BAS). Global positioning system (GPS) signals may be used to determine when a user enters or exits certain geo-fence areas, but because satellite signals are too weak to penetrate buildings, they cannot be used to pinpoint an exact location indoors. GPS is also fairly power intensive, prompting users to disengage if running on a smart device. QR codes associated with specific locations may be scanned by mobile devices which can communicate to a BAS server, but this solution requires explicit user participation. Simple occupancy sensors may be used to identify if people are located in a room or area, but the acquired data is typically limited to being occupied or unoccupied.
Bluetooth® beacon signals have been used to trigger actions in response to an individual smart device's location (either on the individual smart device or a device nearby). Typically such triggered action is for marketing purposes and seeks to make the user aware of some sale or event. The use of such known approaches would not be desirable as a user would not want to be notified every time a building automation system is affected by the user's smart device when in a meeting or conference. Since current Bluetooth beacon applications are directed towards a single user experience, a room with multiple smart devices, where each may indicate a different desired environmental setting requires an approach different from a single user marketing experience.
What is needed in the art is an approach that will identify occupancy of a room or area along with additional data associated with the people present while having minimal impact upon the user.